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Chicago soul-punk crew JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound's connection to the theater is quite literal. Singer Brooks is an actor while guitarist and songwriter Billy Bungeroth is a director with the famed Second City improv comedy troupe.

"I still direct over there," Bungeroth says by telephone from Chicago during a brief respite from the road. "I don't have quite the amount of time anymore because of the band, but I love working at the theater."

Brooks and Bungeroth are spending less time in theaters these days and more in the clubs, along with bandmates Kevin Marks (drums) and Ben Taylor (bass).

"The tour is kind of never-ending now," Bungeroth says, adding that the band just completed West Coast and Midwest jaunts with a Southern leg up next. Tonight, they'll perform at WMNF's Tropical Heatwave festival in Ybor City (11:30 p.m. at the Ritz Ybor).

The band's second album (and first for Chicago's Bloodshot Records), Want More, was released last year, following the self-released 2009 debut, Beat of Our Own Drum. Helping build anticipation for the album was the 2010 release of one of its tracks, a charging remake of Wilco's I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.

"I was and still am a huge Wilco fan," Bungeroth says. "It wasn't just a marketing thing."

Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, the composer, was unabashed in his praise for the Uptown Sound's version, which was part of the band's set before it was committed to tape.

"That was the reason we wound up continuing to play it and eventually record it," Bungeroth says. Once Tweedy voiced his approval, "it was a no-brainer to record it and put it out.

Brooks and Bungeroth met, not through theater connections, but through Craigslist. "That's probably the most boring thing about this band and the one people like to print the most," Bungeroth says with a laugh.

"I was thinking, 'Let's put a band together to play soul,' but we always knew it wasn't going to be straight retro," Bungeroth says. "We knew it would have elements of other things."

Bungeroth is chomping at the bit to make album No. 3 .

"I can't wait to make another album," he says. "We're doing a lot of writing and looking at producers now."

if you go

Tropical Heatwave

WMNF-88.5's Tropical Heatwave features more than 70 artists on a whopping 13 stages around Ybor City. Gates open at 4 p.m., though some shows in Centro Ybor get started earlier. Tickets are $30 advance, $40 at the gate at the Cuban Club, 2010 Avenida Republica de Cuba, Ybor City. For info, call (813) 238-8001 or see wmnf.org/heatwave.